STELLARTON, N.S. — A total of $41,000 dollars was handed out to 18 different wellness organizations in Pictou County on Feb. 20 and recipients are excited to put it to good use.
The 2019 Wellness Fund Celebration was hosted at the Stellarton Fire Hall.
The money will go towards projects in that are aimed at improving health and wellness in the county as well as helping them to build stronger partnerships between organizations with health and wellness promotion as their mandate.
“The more partnerships that we make in our community, the more that we’re going to be able to do,” said Active Pictou County coordinator, Sally O’Neill. “Many hands make light work.”
Two of the collaborative projects which O’Neill is currently involved, as well as an Active Pictou County initiative called an Active Transportation Framework, were all recognized at Wednesday’s event.
The Active Transportation Framework is a kind of bureaucratic tool-kit to help municipal employees in recreation departments and public works to locate sources of grant funding, match it with potential projects, and then apply for that funding under a tight deadline.
“It would definitely have an impact on improving our ability to be able to source funding” said Paul Corbin, Stellarton director of community development and recreation. “Some funding windows will open up and it’s a matter of finding the project that best fits that opportunity. So, it’s a bit of a rush job to get your ducks in a row to see if you qualify.”
As for the Fun Fit Pass program, the extra funding afforded by Wednesday’s recognition will be given over to purchasing more of the library’s loanable family gym passes.
“From the day that we started it there were people waiting to borrow it,” said Trecia Schell, vice-president of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association.
The Fun Fit Pass program, which started last December, loans-out family passes to The Pictou County Wellness Centre, the Pictou Fisheries Training Pool, and True Potential Fitness in the town of Pictou, all for up to two weeks.
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“The whole idea is to make it easier for people to be active,” said O’Neill. “So, if that means getting an opportunity that you otherwise might not have been able to afford, then that’s amazing.”
“The waitlists or hold requests for the passes are three-to-six weeks with the current numbers that we have,” said Schell. “Having additional passes for people to borrow will bring that down so that when people request them they can go to the gym with the kids within a week or two instead of months later.”
The expansion of the program is also crossing county lines, with the Antigonish, People’s Place Library set to offer passes to the recreation facilities at Saint Francis Xavier University.
Full details on the after-school learn to dance program are yet to be announced, but O’Neill said that it will be for students in grades seven-nine and that it will run for eight weeks.
“We’re hoping to get that up and running as soon as possible.”
The other projects recognized on Wednesday were:
Feeling Good with Yoga – Pictou Co. Continuous Learning Association (PiCCoLA)
Parent Support Group – Pictou County Rainbow Community Association
River John Meals on Wheels – RJ Ladies Group
Kids Cooking Table – Scotsburn Recreation Club
Adventure Daypacks –Town of Pictou
Random Acts of Kindness – YMCA of Pictou County
Introduction to Fitness Class – Lismore Community Centre
Learning Centre Healthy Adventures – North Nova Education Centre
Language Work through Relationships – Pictou Landing Band Council-Mi’kmaq Language
Dream Candy After School Program – Dream Candy Organization
Speak up! Act out! Art Jam Creative Retreat – Writing on Fire Society
Opening the Book – Pictou Antigonish Regional Library
Sit & Dance Exercise Program – Riverview Home Volunteer Association
Contemplative Garden – Pictou United Church
Memorable Books – Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
